July 21, 2000
This is a guide to the spells of Medievia. I am not going to just rehash everything that the help files say, but instead I will talk about the actual usefulness of the spells. The spells are arranged into three categories: Offensive, Defensive and Miscellaneous.
Mage - Offensive
The mage has a powerful arsenal of spells at his command, but it's best to chose them for their tasks carefully. Magic missile is your basic spell initially and is one of the most useful spells in PK. It can send up to 13 missiles at the target destroying their phantasmal images all at once. However, soon it is outclassed in damage capacity by Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp and Chill Touch. Of the later three, however, I would only consider Chill Touch worth learning because of the auxiliary effects that may allow you to weaken the target.
Lightning Bolt is the next damaging spell that I would learn and is of course a more powerful spell, though it does have a chance to completely miss its target. Still I would suggest putting this spell off until you get colour spray at your next level. Colour Spray does as much damage as lightning and has the ability to blind your opponent. Also unlike lightning, the damage is never halved by a saving spell. At level 13 you can practice energy drain. I love Energy Drain, it's so nice to not have to rest or sleep ever. It can give you back up to 100 mana and 5% vitality every time that it works - this can save a lot of time in the long run. Your alignment must be evil to cast this spell so take note of your equipment choices. Also at level 13 you can get your first room spell, Chain Lightning. This spell is quite adequate for a low level mage but not recommended if you are an ex-cleric multi and can cast tremor.
Fireball, ::laughs:: The only spell in Medievia that can actually hurt the caster and his form. Also, it's the only spell that gets weakened during rain. I would definitely advise against practicing this spell. Later Frost Shards will be the only spell you will be using to do damage for the next 10 levels, so practice it to superb. At level 20 you get the best room spell in the game, Acid Blast. With that in mind, practice it! Finally at level 25 you get the spell you have been wanting for so long, Shockwave. This the best attack spell for mages and for mage multies. Unfortunately the mana cost to use this is prohibitive until you are at least level 26. Lastly Malediction, "the mage's backstab", with 2 rounds of lag and a lot less damage. Sacrificing a huge amount of offensive and defensive power. It's only plus is that you can't miss with it. This is the spell you use to cherry pick people with as a mage.
Mage - Defensive
Mages have many defensive spells, they just don't get them for quite a few levels. Invisibility and Mass Invisibility are the first that you will gain and they give you -40 ac for the first round or two of combat which is helpful for avoiding backstabs. These are a must have if you want to become successful at combing. Most of the harder mobs in Medievia can detect invisible people. Soon you gain Shield Room, which is used primarily to tick without being disturbed by mobs, but can also be used to trap a mob that flees a lot in one room. I highly recommend learning this spell.
At level 13 you can learn your first ac enhancing spell that doesn't wear off once the fight starts. Shield, this spell combined with stone skin and armor (plus your equipment) can provide -110 ac at level 31. A good spell that you will probably use constantly, as a single class mage this spell will be one of your best friends. Fireshield is a good spell but, Sanctuary is better in almost all cases. Think about it this way. You are fireshielded vs. a sanced opponent, They are hitting you for 100% damage and you hit them for 50% plus 25% from fireshield. In the end it is 100% vs. 75% damage taken. It is also the only way to go if you want to kill a warhorse or other really tough mobs.
At level 18 you gain super duper ac spell, Stone Skin. Depending on your level you gain -25 to -60ac! WARNING if you are not a current class mage, this spell takes around twice as many movements when walking. This adds up fast and you will be left behind in most forms. When you attain your 19th level you get a Mana Shield! This spell essentially turns your mana into hit points and that is very helpful, since mana regenerates much faster than hit points. It essentially doubles and in some cases triples the amount of damage you can take. The last defensive spell you gain will be Phantasmal Images, the anti- backstab and malediction spell. This spell can save you from a large amount of pain and people will have a much harder time PKing you. Get this spell if you don't like dying.
Mage - Miscellaneous
Mages have a wide arrangement of spells that do all sorts of useful things. One of the early ones is Detect Magic, but it is a spell I would only practice if I had practice points to burn. It just shows an aura surrounding an object if it is magical in nature. The next spell you will aquire is Detect Invisibility. This is a must have spell if you want to find Dragon Crystals and invisible mobs - also it lets you see all the good equipment in the donation room and see invisible players. It should be cast on yourself at all times.
Sleep is a handy spell sometimes when a level 20 or below mob begins attacking you. Just put it to sleep and walk on by. Backstabs and other attacks do a lot more damage while the mob is sleeping, Note - this doesn't work on players. Minor Creation comes in handy when you need a bag or raft, but its biggest use is for thieves formed with mages so they can set traps. Since traps are heavy to carry, just make them when you need them. When Continual Light is used you get a no rent ball of light. Pretty much is only used in Herobattles.
Faerie Fire is an okay spell if you have low hit-roll but single mages and clerics have little use for the spell. Refresh and Mass Refresh are a very useful spell because it lets you recover vitality without sleeping and recovers lost movement points very fast, which is incredibly helpful on trade runs. Locate Object is a decent spell, which has only one practical use. It can be used to see if some zones have been run.
Fear is a good spell on trade runs or for clearing out a room so that you may tick. Best used with Shield Room, so the mob doesn't just walk right back in :P. Infravision is good when you don't have a light or don't want one. Such as walking through coral rooms in the Catacombs. Strength is a very good spell. Even if you have your strength trained to 18 it is still useful when you get plagued. The spell can be cast multiple times, increasing your str by 1- 3 depending on your level each time.
Weaken is the spell to use on warrior PKers because it usually causes them to drop their weapon - especially single class foes. This means they can't bash or do much damage, which always helps. Blindness is a good spell, especially if you are a cleric and don't have Colour Spray. When you get colour spray you will rarely use Blindness again, so you might not want to learn it if you are trying to conserve practices. People cant cast or use bs if they are blinded and that always helps.
Teleport is a life saver. I would not suggest going into CPK without it. This spell has got me out of tight situations many times. It is very useful when you need to leave a zone in a hurry to link or avoid a tornado. Know Alignment is decent if you are mage, yet is not at all useful if you are cleric, since detect good and detect evil are much better spells. I suggest just asking someone in the zone or clannies, how the mobs are aligned in a zone instead of practicing this spell.
Conjure Elemental is not really useful until you are lvl 20+ and can take full advantage of elementals and run zones with them. You must have an elemental stone held to conjure one. They go for about 120k on auction. You can conjure an elemental if you don't have enough hit points to resurrect someone. Also dang useful on trade runs, when you see the mob faction warnings just conjure up a couple and you are ready to rumble. Breathe Water is only used during a flood catastrophe and a few underwater zones (especially the Catacombs) - you could rely on other people to cast this spell on you but I'd wait until I was in need of the spell before I practiced it.
Identify is awesome, if you have ever tried to go find eq as a single warrior or thief, you know what I mean. It is probably the most used non-combat spell in the game. Get this spell as soon as possible. Faerie Fog is a fairly useful spell once you start running CPK or other difficult zones with hard mobs. Use when you see a hidden life form and it will show whoever or whatever is hiding in the room with you. It usually invites a backstab in CPK so be wary.
Levitate and Mass Levitate come in handy all the time. Useful for crossing rivers or lakes when you don't want to carry a raft around. Dispel Magic is the only spell that can remove sanctuary, fireshield, mana shield or any other nasty enchantments on your opponents, making them much easier to defeat. You will get lots of use out of this spell, so get it to superb. Enchant Weapon is a rarely used spell and was much better when newbies didn't have such easy access to really good weapons. The only thing I've seen enchanted recently is throwing weapons.
Curse is a pretty useful spell now that it causes casters to botch spells more often. Also it lowers their hit-roll and saving spell. Cursed items can't be dropped, auction, donated or given away unless you put it in a bag first. Sense Death has very limited uses, such as if you see blood on the ground in CPK. Ethereal is very useful if you can't pick locks and is faster if you can. Most locked doors in the more difficult zones, however, will not let you ethereal through them unless you unlock the door first.
Charm Person is fun and very useful - just remember that charming mobs usually means less xp and is used more for running eq zones. Remember to give charmies a weapon and order them to remove all and sleep when you are done with them. Farsight is a great spell if you can't scan and still has many uses when you can, since you can see into dark rooms with farsight where scan cannot go. This spell creates lots of spam so don't use it if you are being chased. Map Catacombs keeps you from wandering around in the same rooms for hours and shows how many times others have gone through the same section of tunnels - it's only used in the combs so delay practicing it till then. If you want eggs try to avoid rooms that say Hyven 17 or Mistisia 12!
Wizard Eye is good when you teleport and are not sure where you are. Scribe is basically only used for helping out non-casters or people who need a certain spell. Note - there are very few spells that you can scribe. Bloodbaths are fairly rare so this spell won't get too much use. Gate is the only way out of the catacombs without dying, unless you have a blessing I would suggest getting this spell. Scry is like peek only you can see mobs even if they are on the other side of the world. It is used often by heros to see if a zone is worth running.
Cleric- Offensive
Cause Light/Serious/Critical are all pretty wimpy attack spells. You may want to avoid using practices on these, now that you can get wands at a low level in Med city now. At level 8 you gain your best offensive spell until Harm, Tremor. The next room spell is Firestorm and it does more damage, but at double or triple the mana cost it is not worth it. It costs upwards of 50 mana depending on your level and how many mobs are in the room. Dispel Evil works wonders and does 100 damage for only 15 mana - caution, if you are evil it will do 100 damage to you if you cast it.
Sandstorm is one of the most under-used spells in the game. It has the same effect as fear and it damages the mobs at the same time. Note - If you start using this in xp forms, people will start getting very angry at you :P. Call Lightning does great damage during a rain or lightning storm, unfortunately that is the only time you can use it. It might not be worth practicing if you don't have many practice points to spare. Flamestrike will be your only way of dealing damage to undead mobs until you get Demon Fire or Hammer of Faith because harm heals them. That alone is a good enough reason to practice the spell, unless you want to be useless in some fights.
Harm is the only attack spell in the game that can actually heal some mobs ( undead). This will be your damage dealing spell until you get Demon Fire or Hammer of Faith so practice it to superb. Firestorm does nice damage but can cost upwards of 50 mana every time depending on your level and how many mobs are in the room. Making it the most costly room spell in the game. Demonfire is an evil cleric's best all around attack spell with no strings attached like Hammer and Harm. If you aren't evil it is not worth realigning and getting a new set of equipment for. Hammer of Faith is great and when you have 1000 or -1000 alignment and attack any opposing aligned mob or player the hammer will spark on impact and do the most damage of any spell in the game. If cast on a mob or player of the same alignment the spell will do no damage.
Cleric- Defensive
Armor is an essential spell because armor class is very important and not getting hit in fights is always nice. Cure Light/Serious/Critic are wimpy healing spells the only one of which you will use much is Cure Critic. I don't think the other 2 spells are worth the practices if you can get a reasonable supply of potions. Bless is very helpful because it is essentially free hit- roll and saving spell.
Protection from Good/Evil lets you take half damage against oppositely aligned mobs and players. Which combined with sanctuary you take only a quarter damage, these spells lasts for about 20 ticks. You must be evil or good respectively to cast the spells. Sanctuary is commonly referred to as sanc, this is easily one of the best spells in the game and it is no surprise that orbs and other items with just a few charges of the spell can go for 100k or more.
Heal is a must have spell. It is the fastest way to regen hit points in the game. When people say X heal or cross heal, that means to cast the spell on each other because it heals more that way. Shared Life is a rarely used spell. If the front ranks are taking heavy damage and the back row has hps to spare it can really boost them. Bloodbath is a lovely spell, too bad you rarely get a chance to use it. Killing a centipede in the combs or a mob faction on a trade run will be about the only times that there will be enough blood in a room. These are the times you will need it and it is often the fastest (and cheapest) way to heal everyone back to full.
Cleric- Miscellaneous
Create Water/Food are very important spells unless you want to wear a bracelet of life until you hero. Detect Poison is a spell I have never needed in all my hours of playing, because if you are making your own food then it's not going to be poisoned and if a person is poisoned it will be obvious without using this spell. Cure Blind will get lots of use. You or somebody else will get blinded sometime or another and instead of doing nothing for 5 or 6 ticks while you wait it off, just cast cure blind and kill whoever did it to you!
Detect Good/Evil are much better alternatives than getting know alignment, both spells last for around 100 ticks (level dependent) and show very easily if a mob or person is good or evil by the aura next to their name. Sense Life shows you if there are hidden life forms in the room. Useful to spot those nasty CPKers or other hidden mobs. Summon is used to instantly bring people to you. It saves time and money to have one person fly or walk to the zone and the others portal to a nearby clantown and phase or get summoned to the person at the zone. Note - do not summon unwilling people because it is freezable.
Poison isn't very good. The strength reducing effect is the best factor here and can kick in extra damage when fighting big mobs but generally only rely on the strength reduction. Unfortunately, many mobs such as snakes and spiders have poisonous bites. Poison also interferes with regenerating mana and hit points. Remove Poison's name speaks for itself. Getting poisoned is fairly common so it would be wise to practice this spell. Once you pass level 16 Word of Recall and Transport will be your best friends because they will be the cheapest and quickest way to get back to town.
Remove Curse is important now more than ever, due to the serious side effect curse now has on casters. Hands of Wind is overlooked by many players - this spell is great when PKing forms of people because many times they will just panic and not know what to do as you pick them off one at a time. It is also good when non-aggressive mobs form up so that you can kill them one at a time which is much easier. Mobs can now use this from time to time. Phase is the reverse of summon, it lets you go to someone else. Use with caution in the combs, because it will cause a mist mephit to appear which can kill you if you aren't prepared.
Quickness and Mass Quickness at high levels combined with some stamina gear can make you just as fast as a horse. The only problem is that it wears fairly quickly and you want it on at all times. The spell Attune can attune your location to an Earth Crystal and let you instantly go there. Earth crystals cost a small fortune on auction and this spell is not worth spending that much money on in my opinion, so either loot one or don't practice the spell. Don't use Earth Crystals during firestorms because they tend to break more often during them. Note - the range on Attune is not very long. Resurrect is great because even if everyone in the form gets killed, and one guy who can resurrect survives, the whole form can be brought back to life without waiting the 10 minutes and walking back to the zone. You must be holding a heartstone and the total of the caster's form's hit points must be greater than those of who you are resurrecting.
I hope this guide has helped you and at least given you a greater understanding of the spells of Medievia.